CHAPTER VI 



JUVENILE LITERATURE IN THE FARM 

 HOME 



IT may be truly said that the strength and 

 impressiveness of the personality depend on the 

 nature of the inner thought of the individual. Now, 

 thoughts are not unlike the trees and the growing 

 grain, or, for that matter, any other living thing; 

 unless they have proper nourishment they wither, 

 perish, or dwindle away to a puny shadow of then* 

 possible selves. How shall we measure the strength 

 and force of the human character other than by the 

 bigness and the purity of the daily thoughts of the 

 individual ? It matters little what the occupation 

 may be a hewer of stone, a hauler of wood, a cap- 

 tain of industry, or a governor of a state each of 

 these may be mean and little in his respective posi- 

 tion provided his thoughts be sensuous and grovel- 

 ing. On the other hand, each of these can shine in 

 his allotted place in a light all his own, provided he 

 have the habit of entertaining clean and inspiring 

 ideas in his secret consciousness. 



Now, one of the larger problems of the rural life 

 is that of supplying the many hours necessarily de- 



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